Due to ties with the Russian Federation: A Turkish airline is banned from flying to one of the European countries

Finnish transport company Traficom has limited the ability of Turkish airline Southwind Airlines to fly to Finland due to its partnership with Russia. Avianews reports this.

Traficom CEO Jarkko Saarimäki said that during an analysis of the company’s activities, it was revealed that a significant part of the ownership and actual control of Southwind Airlines belongs to the Russian Federation.

According to the publication, Southwind Airlines was founded in Turkey in 2022 after restrictions were imposed on Russian airlines due to the outbreak of a large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine. This airline has a connection with Russian tour operator Pegas Touristik, which received permission to continue transporting Russian tourists to Turkey even after the imposition of sanctions.

Southwind Airlines, which focuses on carrying tourists to Turkey, has applied to start flights between Finland and the capitals of Turkey. In addition, one of the new routes implemented by the airline was Istanbul-Minsk.

It was also reported that Pegas Touristik was carrying out tourist air transportation with planes registered to Nordwind Airlines of the Russian Federation, before the start of a large-scale war in Ukraine. However, due to the introduction of restrictions, some ships were withdrawn from Russia and became part of the Southwind Airlines fleet.

Let’s remember, on January 16, Washington Post wrote that Russian airlines could not receive important spare parts due to sanctions. As a result, cases of aircraft malfunctions have become more frequent in the Russian Federation.